New Source for Lacto

[redkj]

Last year I did a sour mashed berliner weisse heating the mash to kill of anything "bad" and then throwing in some uncrushed 2-row for lacto. I covered the surface with saran wrap then put the lid on the mash tun (kettle) and kept it in a warm oven for 48 or so hours. I'm still hanging onto a couple of bottles to savor because it turned out so well. I planned another one sometime soon, but didn't have as much leftover uncrushed 2-row as I thought. On top of that, I started to get paranoid that the first time, I just got lucky and got a good mix of stuff from that grain. So I started brainstorming and researching other options for lacto (No LHBS).

One idea that I found outside of the brewing community was to capture ambient bacteria and isolate lacto using MILK! Yes, milk. Well, as luck would have it, I had the last bit of a jug of milk start to get a little off. I stuck probably 8oz or so into a mason jar, and put it a warm oven yesterday. Supposedly, the milk environment limits bacterial growth to all or almost all lactobacillus. Today it has separated into curd with the sour whey below it, and it smells.....really nice, actually. clean and sour. I'm planning to scoop/skim/strain to separate the layers and pitch this liquid into my BW.

I'm excited about it and thought I'd share this readily available option for bugs. Happy souring!

 

[ne0t0ky0]

Sub'ed. Very interested in your results. I had a good batch going but the second time around it quit souring. I'm looking at new sources as well.

 

[rorypayne]

Subscribed


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[Calder]

There is Paradise, Listermann, and Brew Monkey, covering the city from East to West. How local does an LHBS have to be?

I've successfully used Walmart Probiotics a number of times.

You could use some plain yogurt. No messing around, just drop some in the wort.

 

[redkj]

I actually moved a ways outside of Cinci. I'm within about an hour of what you could call Cincinnati, so I could probably find some time to get to one of the brew shops you mentioned. I just rarely want use that much of my free time not relaxing at home. Also, for any Cincinnati folks, a new shop called Osborn Brewing just opened north of the city.

But thanks for the reminder about the probiotic pills, Calder. I had read something about them, but it had slipped my mind.

Update on the milk experiment: I tasted it today and despite the tart smell, it doesn't taste sour at all. I did pull the solid top layer out though, and it tasted like mozzarella, which was nifty.

 

[kbindera]

This is interesting and I have been considering something like this. Curious to know the amount you are dealing with (both wort and whey). Also, did you add it to primary with some other yeast? Secondary?
I have been making kefir lately and am considering using kefir whey to sour a beer or possibly adding part of my collection of kefir grains into wort to see what happens. Kefir grains are a mix of both lacto and yeast and seem pretty resilient, in my experience; they just keep multiplying and I have more then I know what to do with.


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[redkj]

I chickened out on the whey/milk route. The reason being, when I tasted the "starter", it was no longer sour, with really no flavor at all until the most vile of aftertastes sent me running to the mouth wash. Apparently, as I have now learned, in addition to multiple L.A. producing bacteria, milk also contains alkalizing bacteria. I think that this is still possible but would require some more specific steps to ensure you're getting the bacteria you want.

Here's one of the video's that gave me some of the inspiration for this idea:

I haven't totally put this to bed yet, so hopefully I'll get around to trying a small batch sooner or later.

 

[redkj]

BTW: Don't waste your time watching the whole video, you get the idea after a couple of steps, so just skip around until you get the big picture.